Drunk
by 47alwayswriting
Summary: Castle gets an unexpected phone call from Kate when he's in the Hamptons during the summer.
1. Chapter 1

_I was planning to finish this story before uploading it, but it took too long, so I'll just start uploading and see where it leads :)_

_Enjoy..._

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The annoying sound of his ringtone drew him out of his writing haze and he reluctantly picked it up. "Hello," he said, without checking who was calling.

"Casssstle," the person on the other side slurred.

"Beckett?" he asked, his voice an octave higher in surprise. That was the last person he expected to call him, especially at this time of night.

"Mmmm, Cassstle," Beckett slurred again and Castle realized that something was wrong. Either she was asleep, which wasn't very likely, or…

"Beckett, are you drunk?" he asked with a hint of amusement in his voice. He leaned back in his chair and waited for her answer.

"No, 'm not drunk," she denied, sharply speaking the last letter. She sounded childish and sleepy.

"I think you are," Castle teased, he was enjoying this. He loved hearing her voice, it seemed like a lifetime ago since he'd last heard it. Last thing she said to him was, 'See you in the fall' after which he promised that he would but if he was honest with himself he wasn't looking forward to it. Of course, he couldn't wait to see her again but he didn't know if he could watch her make goo goo eyes with Demming all the time.

"Rick," she chirped on the other side of the line, "Rick, I should call you Rick more." A shiver ran down his spine by hearing her speak his first name. She was definitely drunk, though.

"Then can I call you Kate?" he played along.

"You can always call me Kate," she said, like it was the most natural thing in the world. "I like it when you call me Kate."

"Do you now?"

"Yessss," she said, prolonging the s. "So, Rick. What are you doing?" He could almost see her twirling her hair around her finger when she asked that question.

"I was writing," Castle said, "Gina has been harassing me all month." Had it only been a month? It seemed so much longer.

"I don't like her," Becket whined and he could hear her pout. "She interrupted my speech."

"She – What?" Maybe he could get her to tell him what she was actually going to say before he left because he was sure it wasn't just 'Have a great summer'.

"Lanie says I need to hand her the phone, I don't want to hand her the phone. I want to keep talking to you," she whined and he chuckled. He heard some rustling noises on her side and some hushed talking that he didn't understand.

"Hi, Castle," Lanie said eventually.

"Lanie, hi!" Castle replied. "How are you?"

"I'm good. Kate's a bit drunk, though," she said. Lanie didn't sound drunk, maybe she still needed to drive home.

"Am not!" Beckett yelled from the background.

"Yeah, I noticed. How did that happen?" Castle said.

"She was talking about breaking up with Tom and complaining about you and Gina. I think that in the progress, she had too many refills. She called you when I was using the bathroom."

"She broke up with Demming?"

"She didn't tell you?" Lanie sounded surprised. "Now I understand why you left with your ex-wife! You thought she was still going away with Tom!"

"Lanie, gimme the phone!" Kate whined.

"Let me talk to her," Castle said.

"Castle, I am not going anywhere with Tom!" she exclaimed as soon as Lanie handed her the phone.

"So I hear," he chuckled to hide his relief. He had had a good time with Gina the first few weeks in the Hamptons but after a while things started going the way they had gone when they divorced and Castle didn't like it. He supposed he would just finish the book to please the editor side of her and struggle through, hoping that this time they could make it work. But now that Beckett was calling him in her drunken haze, he dared to hope again. "So what did you want to tell me when Gina interrupted you?"

It was quiet for a second but he could hear her breathe. "I was going to accept you offer to go to the Hamptons with you," she said quietly. This time there was no hint of drunkenness in her voice, which made him wonder if she faked it in case she needed a reason for just calling him in the middle of the night.

Castle nodded, even though she couldn't see him. He tried to come up with a response that wouldn't make either of them look like a fool. Eventually he went with the one that just made him look like a fool, ignoring his pride. "I would've liked that," he said just as quietly. He heard her exhale in relief. "So, how drunk are you exactly?"

"I'm not drunk!" she protested again. Okay, maybe she was drunk.

"All right, can you hand the phone to Lanie for another second? I promise I'll talk to you later," he said.

"Okay, but only because you promised."

"Castle?" Lanie said again.

"She really is drunk, isn't she?"

"Well, I don't think she would've ever called you if she was sober. So yes, she really is."

"Does she have any time off this summer?"

"Well, she didn't go with Demming that weekend. She was at work, so I guess she still has those days? Montgomery is probably willing to give her more if she asked. She's hardly taken any vacation days since she started working Homicide."

"Okay, thanks," Castle said.

"I would give you back to Kate but she's just fallen asleep," Lanie said, chuckling softly.

Castle joined her and said, "Take care of her for me?"

"I will," Lanie promised. "You're planning something, aren't you?" She sounded pleased. He just wanted Kate to be with him right now. Not miles away in the city. He didn't exactly have a plan yet but he was forming one in his mind.

"Yes, but I want it to be a surprise for Kate."

"Okay, I won't say a word."

"Thanks."

"Okay, I've got to go," Lanie said.

"Right, bye." They hung up and Castle smiled. He had to arrange some things, starting with what was the most unpleasant one.

He rose from his chair and started towards the guest room, where Gina was staying since their big fight a couple of days ago. He quietly opened the door and checked if she was up, which she was, surprisingly.

"Hey," he said.

"Richard, hi," she chimed. "What are you doing up so late? Were you writing?"

"I was." She looked surprised and he sighed internally. It really wasn't _that _uncommon. "But then I got a call."

"At one A.M.?" she asked. "Who was it?" She did have the decency to sound at least a little bit concerned.

"A very drunk Beckett," he replied.

"Beckett?"

"Yeah." He didn't know how to say what he had to say, but plunged on. "She told me that she broke up with her boyfriend and that she initially wanted to accept my offer to come here for the weekend."

"And now you want her to come anyway?" Gina wasn't blind, she knew about his feelings for Kate. Why else would he base such an extraordinary character off her? "Rick, if that's what makes you happy and writing, I'll be out of here first thing in the morning. I think we both saw that this isn't going to work. Again." She smiled a sad smile.

He nodded and said, "I'm sorry."

"There's nothing to be sorry about," Gina replied. "We both knew what we were getting into and why it didn't work out last time, right?"

"Right," Castle muttered and started to leave.

"Rick," Gina called after him and he turned around. "I hope it works out." She was sincere and in that moment he saw the woman he once had married and the one he had asked to come to the Hamptons with him. Too bad she wasn't always like that.

"I hope so, too," he said with a smile and exited the room, closing the door softly behind him. He breathed out, that was easier than he had expected. He went back to his office to turn off his computer but was suddenly struck by inspiration and ended up writing another two chapters.

By five his eyes started to fall shut and he decided to take a break. He lay down and as soon as his head hit the pillow he was out.

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_Thoughts?_


	2. Chapter 2

_Wow! The reaction I got for the first chapter really blew me away. You guys are the best! It's amazing if something you've worked so hard on gets to be received so well. Especially this story, because I wrote a big part of this during my final exams and this was a way to relax in between all the studying. So I've lived with this story for over a month so to see that it gets so much amazing attention is so awesome, just mind-boggling, jaw-droppingly awesome! So thank you so much!_

_I know that this kind of story has been done a thousand times before and I'll try to make it as original as I can._

_The first chapter used to be much longer so I cut it in two, Here's the second part._

_So much LOVE! K. _

_Enjoy!_

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When she woke up Kate's head pounded and she couldn't recall what had happened the night before. She struggled to sit up and was surprised to find herself on the couch instead of her bed.

She tried to remember how she got there but it was no use she had no recollection whatsoever of last night. It had been a long time since she had been so drunk that she couldn't remember what had happened the night before.

The last thing she remembered was Lanie taking her home after they had hit a bar. Judging by the glasses that still sat on the coffee table and the empty bottle on the kitchen island, she assumed that they had opened another bottle of wine.

She groaned as she got up and stumbled across the living room towards the bathroom, in search of some aspirin. Her headache made her dizzy and she had to hold on to the back of the couch so she wouldn't fall over. When she finally made it to the bathroom, she opened the cabinet and took out two aspirins. She filled a glass of water and downed it all in one smooth move. She leaned back against the sink heavily, waiting for the painkillers to kick in.

After what seemed like forever, her head got clearer and it was easier for her to think. Maybe Lanie remembered what had happened last night. She could call her, ask what had happened even though she wasn't sure she wanted to know.

Somehow she felt lighter than she had in a long while and she doubted if she wanted to know the reason for that yet. Slowly, she picked herself up and took a quick shower before heading into work.

The precinct was already buzzing. She'd closed a case yesterday so all she had to do today was paperwork. She hoped there would be no murders today so she could get home early.

Passing Ryan and Esposito's desks, she greeted them. As she walked by, she could feel their eyes on her. Just like every day since _he _had left. She'd stopped reprimanding them for it. It actually made her feel a bit better to know that they cared about her.

Today, she almost felt normal, apart from her hangover, and she still wondered why that was. She missed him just as much as yesterday, if not more, but it seemed more bearable. As if she knew that he might come home soon. Of course that was just ridiculous. The guy left with his ex-wife for the summer and even though he'd told her that he'd be back in the fall, she didn't really believe him. Anyway, it was still a long time until the fall.

"You okay, Beckett?" Espo asked across the bullpen, when she had been staring at her elephant parade for over a minute. He had liked her elephants, she was sure of it. Even though he'd never said as much.

"Yeah, fine," she replied almost immediately and without thinking. She shot Espo a sideways glance and saw that he didn't buy it but let it go. He knew that she wouldn't talk about it anyway. She saw him share a look with Ryan but then he shrugged and concentrated on his paperwork again.

She brought her attention back to her computer screen and checked if she had any e-mail. She didn't expect any, because she didn't have any open cases at the moment, but you never knew. There was one from Madison, some kind of invitation to a benefit night at Q3. She wasn't in the mood so she forwarded it to Lanie. Maybe she and Esposito wanted to go. Not that they were dating or anything. Sure, Lane.

She sighed and rested her head in her hands. Her head pounded and her throat was dry as sandpaper. Swallowing started to be painful and she had just decided to get some soothing tea in the break room when her Captain's voice startled her.

"Beckett," Roy Montgomery's voice sounded through the bullpen and she looked up towards his office. He stood in his doorway and beckoned her closer. "A word please," he said.

She hesitantly got up, wondering what he wanted to talk about. It couldn't possibly be anything bad, all she'd done these past weeks was close cases.

"Close the door, please," Montgomery told her and he mentioned for her to sit, which she did, suppressing a sigh. It wouldn't be easy to hide her hangover from her Captain and sighing as she sat down definitely wouldn't help.

He looked at her for a long time over his clasped hands. Kate tried not to shift too much in her seat but her Captain's scrutiny made her uncomfortable.

"You look like hell, detective," he eventually said. How do you respond to that? She suppressed the urge to thank him sarcastically and stayed still, waiting for him to continue. "I think you need to take some time off."

"Sir…" Beckett started to object.

"No, Beckett. You've been working non-stop. You're tired, you're agitated. You're not bringing your best game if you don't take a break." It was clear that his suggestion hadn't really been a suggestion but a kind way to say that he wanted to kick her out for a while. So Beckett didn't object any further, knowing that it wouldn't do her any good and she didn't have the energy to argue anyway.

"Okay, I'll finish my paperwork and head out," she muttered.

"Good," Montgomery said and she started to get up.

"Thanks," she said out of obligation.

"Kate," he continued and his voice had grown softer. "You know I'm not doing this to punish you, right? I care about you and I hate to see you drive yourself into the ground over him."

She stopped breathing. Why was he bringing this up? Wasn't it enough that he had kicked her out?

"I'm not…" she started but it was weak and she didn't finish.

"You miss him and I get that but you can't drink yourself into oblivion to forget about him. I shouldn't have to tell _you, _of all people, that alcohol isn't the solution."

Suddenly, his desk was very interesting as she couldn't bring herself to look him in the eyes. Of course he knew. He wouldn't be her captain if he didn't. Yet she still felt the need to explain herself. To make him see that she hadn't been drinking because of Castle. "Sir, I was out with a friend last night and we just had a bit too much wine. Castle has nothing to do with this."

Roy considered her for a second, then gave her a look and let it go. "Okay," he said. "Guess I'll see you in two weeks."

"Yes, sir," Kate muttered and she left his office, closing the door behind her. She went straight for the break room to pour herself some coffee. Ignoring Castle's expensive espresso machine she forced herself to swallow the cheap, cop-made sludge. It really did taste like a monkey peed in battery acid. She scrunched her nose and walked back to her desk.

"What's up?" Espo asked her as soon as she sat down.

"Nothing, Espo," she sighed, his constant worry got on her nerves. She would have to tell them that she wasn't going to be there for the next two weeks eventually but she delayed that until the end of her shift so she wouldn't have to endure another day of their staring.

She saw the look Esposito was giving her. He wasn't taking her avoidance anymore so she murmured, "Bad coffee," without thinking. Then she realized what they could make of that and rolled her eyes. "Why can't we just have decent coffee?" That wasn't any better.

"You can use Castle's espresso machine, you know?" Ryan said. She didn't wince at the sound of his name but she could hear Esposito slap him. With a quiet "What?" Ryan finally understood what he had said.

Beckett sat down and tried to finish her paperwork as fast as possible so she could just get out of there.

(…)

He woke up with the sun streaming through his windows. Despite the little sleep he had gotten, he didn't feel tired at all. In fact, he felt more energized than he had in months. He jumped out of bed and hit the shower. He had a lot to do today.

He made Gina a simple breakfast and then saw her out. She kissed his cheek and wished him good luck. She didn't seem even a little bit resentful, which made Castle like her a bit more. After that he cleaned the house, he hadn't done anything but trying to write the last month so the place wasn't as clean as he'd like it to be.

Gina didn't clean, she only whined that he should hire someone to do it but that wasn't what Castle did. He didn't like to hire people just because he could. After he had written his first book and received his first check, he had but he had realized that it made him act spoiled. And that wasn't him. He liked to do things himself, that's how Martha raised him and that's how he raised Alexis.

The cleaning cleared his mind and he could think. He tried to think of a way to convince Kate to take time off and come with him. He searched for the right words. There were too many wrong options, too many variations that would make her run.

The morning flew by and by the time everything was as good as new it was midday already. Castle made a sandwich for himself and realized that his cupboards were stuffed with the things he and Alexis liked but he didn't know if Kate liked them. He should at least get some vanilla creamer so she could have her coffee the way she liked it. He could always run to the store if necessary.

When he was pleased with everything he took his car and drove back to the city. He hoped that she would be home already. He didn't want to burst in on her at the precinct when everybody could listen in. He also wasn't looking forward to waiting by her door until she got home. She might have caught a case and she would be at the precinct until very late.

When he drove past her building he was lucky enough to spot her walking on the curb, towards the building. He decided to give her some time and wait. He didn't want it to seem that he followed her there.

He parked a block from her apartment and went to a coffee shop around the corner. They didn't have her usual but he hoped that caramel and a promise to do better next time would be okay too for a peace offering. With the coffee in hand he walked to her building and nodded at the doorman.

Before he knew it he was stepping out of the elevator and he had to take a deep breath to keep himself calm. He reminded himself of his plan and knocked.

It seemed to last forever for her to open her door. When it finally swung open he came face to face with a very surprised Beckett. "Castle?" she exclaimed.

"A sight for sore eyes," he said. Half joking, half very serious, hoping to break the ice.

For a second all her emotions were on her face, ready for him to read, surprise followed by a sliver of happiness followed by regret and then the wall shifted firmly back in place and his stare was met with an ice cold glare. "What are you doing here?" she demanded.

Hearing the distance in her voice was like she kicked him in the gut. He realized immediately that she didn't remember their phone call. He hadn't expected to be received with open arms but this wasn't what he had planned for. Her glare didn't waver and he struggled to find the words he had prepared earlier that day.

"I came to apologize," he finally said and her glare seemed to soften, or maybe he imagined it because less than a second later it was back in full force. He tried again. "I… can I come in, please?"

Her eyes searched his face but eventually she stepped back and let him in. "I'm sorry, I should have called," he started.

"Yes, you should have," she countered, her voice like blades. He wasn't sure if she meant earlier in the summer or for tonight. It didn't matter anyway.

"I'm sorry," he said again. Seeing her again made him speechless. He had missed her so much that she took his words away from him. All he could muster up was, "How are you?"

"I'm fine, Castle," she replied, turning around and walking into the kitchen.

She definitely was not 'fine' and his ability to speak came rushing back, along with some kind of lost fire. "You say that, but then you call me in the middle of the night. Drunk off your toes!"

She sharply turned back to him, her surprise had made her wall disappear and her emotions ran free over her face again. She looked so utterly and completely lost that his heart sank. "What?" she breathed.

"Last night," Castle explained more deliberate, "you called me, to tell me you missed me. We talked for a bit." He wasn't sure how much he should tell her but judging by her face the entire conversation was a big blank.

"We… talked?" she almost whispered and he nodded, carefully taking a step closer.

"I also came to tell you that I missed you too," he told her softly and she looked up. Her eyes were suddenly filled with unshed tears. It surprised him that she didn't try to hide them from him but when didn't she surprise him.

"What about… your ex-wife?" she asked, uncertain.

"These last few weeks have been a repeat of our marriage. It was fun, at the beginning, but it got more and more like it had been right before we got our divorce. She left this morning."

Kate still seemed out of it. She sagged against one of the stools by the counter and bit her lip. "What did I tell you?" she asked. "On the phone?"

"You told me that you'd broken up with Demming and that you wanted to accept my offer to come with me for the weekend," he told her. "You were also very convincing when you claimed that you weren't drunk." She groaned and raised a hand to cover her eyes. His eyes sparkled as he realized that the worst had passed.

"What else?" she asked so softly he hardly heard her.

He hesitated, he wanted to convince her, not drive her away even more. But he wanted to be honest with her so he wracked his brain and said uncertainly, "You called me Rick, said you should call me Rick more. Then you told me that you like it when I call you Kate."

"I did not!" she exclaimed and he saw her blush slightly.

"Then you mentioned that you didn't like Gina because she interrupted your speech," he continued, softer and surer this time, more like he was teasing her, and she groaned again. "You're very funny when you're drunk, Kate."

"Embarrassing," she muttered.

"Cute," he countered.

"Really? You think it's _cute_ when I act like a five-year-old?" she asked him incredulously.

"Very," he told he and he felt himself smile.

"Oh, right, I'm asking the nine-year-old," she mumbled and he laughed. His laugh seemed to tease the smile out of her that she always gave him when he brought her coffee in the morning and he felt his heart warm. The thought reminded him of the cup in his hand and he offered it to her before sitting down next to her.

"It's probably cold by now but it was supposed to be warm. And I was hoping you'd forgive me?" He gave her his puppy-dog-eyes.

She laughed and took the cup, immediately taking a sip. "Caramel?" she asked.

"They were out of vanilla," he explained, remorseful.

"It's fine. And stop looking at me like that, Castle," she told him. "You're already forgiven. Who kicks out his girlfriend _and_ comes straight back to the city after one drunk phone call?" She bumps his shoulder with hers.

"Me, apparently," he muttered. "Listen, I wanted to tell you that the offer still stands."

She looked down, he saw the radars in her head turn, almost heard them.

"I understand if you can't come with me right now because of work but maybe you can get some time off soon?"

She still didn't answer, her finger traced the rim of her cup as she thought.

(…)

He confused her. Suddenly he was there again, after a month of silence. It had taken a drunk call from her to make him get his ass back to her. But she felt whole again, for the first time since he left and she didn't have to ask herself why that was because she knew the answer. Because all it had taken was one phone call. Just like he had said at the door, seeing him was a sight for sore eyes. He was here and he had brought her coffee. It didn't matter that it was the wrong kind and cold, it was the thought that counted.

Just like him, the offer to accompany him to the Hamptons seemed to come out of nowhere. Of course she wanted to go with him. There was nothing she'd rather do with her time off than spend it with him but last time she wanted to accept his offer he bailed on her. Well, not really, she waited too freaking long to tell him and the whole situation became a mess.

"Actually, I would love to come with you now. Montgomery kicked me out for a couple of weeks so I've got nothing but time," she told him and his eyes lit up with surprise. Like he hadn't expected her to accept. "What? Did you think I'd decline?" she asked.

"I don't know. I don't think I came with expectations. I didn't think it would be so easy, though," he told her with a huge grin.

"Well, I'm tired and still a little hungover so…"

"Right," Castle said and he was quiet for a second.

"So do I pack my back now and just jump in your car or do you have some kind of a plan?" she asked him.

"Actually, this was as far as my plan went but it's not that late. Have you had dinner yet?"

"Castle, I just got home, of course I haven't had dinner yet."

"Okay, I know a cute little restaurant on the way where we can eat," he said enthusiastically. She had actually been planning on taking a long bath with one of his books before even thinking about dinner but his offer suddenly sounded very appealing.

"I'll go pack my bag. Shouldn't take long but make yourself at home," she told him and jumped off the kitchen stool and stalked towards her bedroom, wondering if she could trust him alone in her living room.

She grabbed a suitcase and started to throw in clothes at random. When she arrived at her lingerie drawer she paused. What was this? Was this a friendly getaway with no ulterior motive. She didn't think so. Before she could think about it too much and back out again, she grabbed both sexy and comfortable underwear and dumped it in her suitcase.

In record time, she was back in the living room and to her surprise he was sitting on the couch flipping through the paper she had left on her coffee table. Huh, maybe she could trust him to not go snooping around.

"Ready?" she asked him and she smirked as he jumped with a small screech.

"Yeah, you're a fast packer," he said as he put the paper down and got up. He moved towards her to take the suitcase from her, but she gave him a look telling him that she could handle it. Without much of a reaction he changed course and opened the door for her.

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_Thoughts?_

_I'm going on a camping trip for a couple of days with school, so it may take some time for me to reply to your messages! I do really love them! Xx _


	3. Chapter 3

_Here's chapter three. Camping was fun, some of you asked about it and I thought that was really sweet :)_

_To the (guest) reviewers, follows and favorites: thank you so much! You are amazing and I love you guys._

* * *

The house was bigger than she had expected. Yeah, she had known it was big but she had never imagined _this_. The early morning light shone through the windows invitingly. She stepped out on the back porch and inhaled the salty scent of the sea. The already warm wind swept over her and she closed her eyes for a second.

She had forgotten how much she loved going to the beach when she was younger. The last time she'd been here must've been after her mother's funeral, when she and her dad had made that stickman. She smiled at the memory. Her dad had done everything to cheer her up. That was one of the last days he was actually sober for a long time.

Shaking the memory, she stepped back in the house, immediately missing the fresh air. She shook her head and went up to her room to change into some track pants and a tank top. She was going for a run. Castle would survive if she wasn't here when he woke up. She left him a note saying, '_Going for a run. Back later,' _and set out along the beach.

(…)

He stood on the back porch and watched as her slim frame came into view. Jogging through the sand, she looked vibrant. The woman he had found in the city yesterday had disappeared and Kate had taken her place, happy and light. She inspired him, he had written more after their phone call and last night than he had in weeks.

She glanced towards the house and he saw a smile break out on her face. He held up a cup of coffee in salute as she made her way to him.

"Hey," she smiled as soon as she got close enough for him to hear her. She wasn't even panting.

"Morning," he replied and he held out the coffee to her, "coffee?"

She took the cup and grinned at him. "You're amazing, you know that?" she said and then she quickly looked down as if it had just slipped out. Castle felt his heart skip a beat and felt a smile light up his face. He didn't know how to respond to that. Actually, he did. '_So are you'_ was one of them, but he didn't want to scare her away.

He settled for, "So I've been told." She looked up at him with bright eyes and smiled shyly at him.

"Good run?" he asked and she seemed happy for the change of subject as she nodded.

"Yeah, it's beautiful here," she said. "I always love running on the beach, sound and smell of the ocean. Seagulls coming up to you begging for food. Your shoes full of sand."

Castle laughed, "That sounds very inviting."

"Yeah, but I really do love running on the beach. The sand and the seagulls are just something you have to accept," she said.

Castle laughed. He liked Kate's biting sarcasm. It was one of the reasons he'd fallen for her. She always had an answer and always had a jab back. He had fallen in love with their banter and her humour. But also the strength she showed when she needed to. Her heart.

"Have you had breakfast yet?" he asked her.

"No, not yet. I thought I'd wait for you," she said with a sly smile.

"And run?"

"And run. But I have to say that I like running better before I've eaten than after."

"Okay then. What do you want? I can wipe up some pancakes, or eggs. I also have toast or cornflakes, if you don't feel like a big breakfast."

"Toast is fine. Thanks, Castle," she said and he opened the door for her to enter.

"So want do you want to do today?" he asked her. "We can swim, we can go to the ocean, I can show you around town for a little bit, we can watch a movie, whatever you want."

"I would love to look around a little," she said. "But after breakfast. And I'm taking a shower first. You don't want to walk next to me when I'm all sweaty. " Castle wanted to object, but thought better of it when she saw the look she shot his way. Sometimes he wondered if she really couldn't read his mind.

"Okay, go take a shower then. I'll take care of breakfast. Just don't be too long," he said and she grinned at him and walked up the stairs. He followed her with his gaze and only when she was completely out of view he started to assemble everything for the toast. He grabbed the loaf of bread and threw a couple of slices into the toaster.

Meanwhile he set two plates at the island and brew her some more coffee. The cup he'd given her had already been cooling when he'd handed it over. He hadn't realized that she wasn't in the house when he'd made it for her and had found the note afterwards. He also grabbed a pan and made some scrambled eggs.

She was back before he even had the chance to set the table properly. "Wow, you're fast."

"You told me to hurry up," she said with a wicked grin and took the plate with scrambled eggs from him. "I thought we were having toast?"

"We are. But Alexis and I always like scrambled eggs on our toast."

"Hmm," was all she answered. "So how's Alexis doing at Princeton?"

"She's fine. She's having a lot of fun, made some friends."

"And how are you doing with her being at Princeton?"

"Well, you know, like Mother said 'sometimes the less you know, the better'."

"I don't think Alexis is the type to go wild, Castle," Kate soothed.

"No, but I do miss her," he said and he pouted a bit. Then he looked at her and grinned. "At least I've got a good distraction." It was his way of saying he was happy she was there with him.

"I think you'll survive," Beckett acknowledged and she popped a piece of toast with scrambled egg in her mouth. Castle followed it with his eyes and couldn't help agreeing with her.

"Any interesting cases lately?" he asked, searching for another subject than his absent daughter.

"Not really," she answered as she looked down. She looked a bit put out, even sad maybe. He wondered if he should press the matter but decided against it. He didn't want to scare her off. Not now she looked like she was enjoying herself. "Maybe because you weren't there."

His head shot up, what did she say? He thought that he might have imagined it, but she had that deer-caught-in-the-headlight look. She didn't sound angry or accusatory, just sad. She hadn't meant to say it. That much was clear in the moment their eyes met.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I can't say how sorry I am." He moved to pull her into a hug and instead of resisting as he had expected her to do, she came willingly, wrapped her arms around his waist and squashed her face into his chest.

It broke his heart to know that he had done this to her. He was so angry with himself that he had asked Gina to come with him. But it was no use. All he could do now was righten his mistake and move forward.

"Castle," she mumbled after a while, her voice smothered by his shirt. He gripped her a little tighter. "Castle, as much as I enjoy your father bear instincts, I would like to be able to breathe."

"Right, sorry," he said as he quickly let her go. He gave her a sheepish smile and returned to his breakfast.

"I should have told you the truth from the beginning," she said after a silent minute. "That way, I wouldn't have hurt you as much. You know Javi warned me? He said that you weren't following me around because you wanted to see me with another guy and then when you didn't bring me coffee the next morning… I should've seen it coming."

"Kate…"

"No, Castle. I'm just saying that we're both to blame here. Let's just forget about it enjoy our time here," she said.

"Okay," he said, "let's start with that tour, shall we?" He was desperate to forget about it and enjoy their time together. She smiled at him and grabbed his now empty plate, stacked it on hers and put them by the sink.

"Got a dishwasher in this cottage of yours?" she joked.

"Yeah, let me get that." Castle jumped up and moved around her to put the plates in the dishwasher.

(…)

Castle suggested that they'd walk into town since the weather was nice and he could use the exercise after weeks of writing – or not writing. Kate didn't mind walking so she agreed to the half hour stroll into town. She was in awe of the mansions they passed on their way.

"Seriously, how is it possible that we are in crisis when these people have so much money?" she asked.

"People are egocentric and only care about themselves. Most of these people have never even had to worry about money. They have no idea what it's like to have to watch what you buy because if you spend too much, you won't be able to pay your rent at the end of the month."

Kate looked up at Castle in surprise. She never thought about his life before he became a bestselling author but she realized that it mustn't have been easy as a child.

"There was a time when Mother was in three plays at once in order to get by," he told her. He must've noticed her reaction. "She couldn't afford a babysitter, so I would come with her and play with her co-stars, or sleep somewhere backstage if it got late. She rarely had a dressing room."

Kate suddenly understood where his generosity came from, he didn't care about the money so he gave to people who needed it more than him. She felt her heart warm at his empathy and remembered her own experience not long ago when he had invested a hundred grand for a shot at her mother's killer.

She reached out and caught his wrist, when he looked down at her she smiled at him and slightly squeezed his wrist. He grinned at back and moved his hand so that he could interlock his fingers with hers.

They continued to walk in a companionable silence, sometimes commenting on something they saw, but no more heavy conversation. When they neared the town centre the properties became smaller and stood more closely together until they rounded a corner and were in a street filled with small buildings.

"Welcome to the town centre," Rick smiled. The street they'd entered had little shops on either side of the street. Kate noticed that most of them were those expensive shops she never went to because if she did she'd end up abusing her credit card. "Come on, let's get some coffee before we go on." Castle tugged on her hand and led her to a nearby coffee shop.

Kate offered to find a table but Castle was reluctant to let go of her hand, so they waited in the short line together. "You want a cronut to go with it or something?" Castle asked when there was only one person ahead of them.

"You're only asking because you really want one yourself, right?" Kate said and she caught his guilty smile. "Actually, I wouldn't mind a bite to eat." The walk had made her kind of hungry, so she let him off the hook.

"Great," Castle said and he ordered a grande skim latte, two pumps sugar free vanilla, a latte macchiato and two cronuts.

He finally let go of her hand – not that she minded holding his hand – to pay the barista and take the cups of coffee and the pastries from him. They weaved through the maze of tables until they reached an empty one near the window. Castle put their beverages on the table and sat down with a sigh.

"I love this place," he said. "When Alexis was younger we'd always come here for hot chocolate during the winter. They have the _best_ hot chocolate you'll ever taste. I once tried to ask for the recipe but they wouldn't give it to me." He pouted, but then continued happily, "But now every time we come to the Hamptons, we come here for hot chocolate."

"Now I'm curious for that hot chocolate, Castle. You should've told me earlier, then I would've had this amazing hot chocolate instead of coffee."

"Seriously? You'd forgo your _coffee_ for hot chocolate?" Castle asked incredulously.

"You just said that it'll be the best hot chocolate I've ever tasted! I don't want to miss that," Beckett elaborated.

"Don't worry, we'll be back," Castle said and he winked as he handed her a cronut.

"Good, I'm holding you to that," she muttered as she took a sip of the delicious brew he'd just handed her. "So, you're taking me sightseeing?"

He nodded, "Yep, I like this town. It's not as busy as New York, so it has a bit more ambience. Mother and Alexis like it for shopping, for obvious reasons," he said and Kate smiled, thinking of the little boutiques that carried the names of brands such as Chanel, Louis Vuitton and Ralph Lauren between the little local shop that no doubt sold stuff that was just as expensive. "They also have a beautiful church that you might want to see and I want to show you the lake. Though, I guess that's more a sight for the way back to the house."

"Sounds good, Castle," she said with a smile. She liked seeing him so in his element, so at ease with her and she hoped that she could keep it that way.

(…)

After he had shown her the town centre and the church, he led her back to the park just outside of town where there was a beautiful lake. He smiled at her expression when she saw it, one of pure wonder. There was no wind, so the trees on the other bank were reflected perfectly in the clear water.

"Wow, this is beautiful, Castle," she whispered. She seemed afraid to break the peaceful silence that hovered over them.

"It is," he said in the same low voice and pointed to the cute ducklings that weren't quite chicks anymore, but not ducks either. "Look."

"They look like fluffy miniature ducks," she chuckled.

"You've never seen ducks at this age?" he asked her and she shook her head, biting her lip.

"No, I've seen chicks and ducks, obviously, but never in this form. I've always avoided the lakes in Central Park during the summer, because of the crowds. And these last couple of years, I was always working, so I didn't have much time to go parks anyway. And I'd rather spend my day in the air-conditioning of the precinct. But they _are_ really cute like this."

The ducklings followed their mother into the cane until they were out of sight, leaving Castle and Beckett looking at the almost perfect reflection in the water again. Well, Beckett looked at the water, Castle was more occupied with the sky. The sun had disappeared and dark clouds now filled the air. He noticed that the temperature had dropped measurably and he shivered.

"Beckett?" he said cautiously.

"Yeah," she said. She apparently hadn't noticed the change in the weather yet.

"I think we should head back to the house."

"What, why?" she finally looked up at him and at that moment he felt the first raindrop on his cheek. He pointed up and saw her face change in realization. "Oh, yeah. Good idea."

* * *

_Thoughts?_


	4. Chapter 4

_I am so so so so sorry! This took way too long! I hope that you guys are still with me. I'm not going to say again that I was really busy and didn't have any time to write, even though it's true (crap, now I did say that). Anyway, here's the chapter._

* * *

_Previously:_

_The sun had disappeared and dark clouds now filled the air. He noticed that the temperature had dropped measurably and he shivered. _

_"__Beckett?" he said cautiously._

_"__Yeah," she said. She apparently hadn't noticed the change in the weather yet._

_"__I think we should head back to the house."_

_"__What, why?" she finally looked up at him and at that moment he felt the first raindrop on his cheek. He pointed up and saw her face change in realization. "Oh, yeah. Good idea."_

* * *

Within a minute it started pouring and they were soaked almost immediately. It took them half the time to get home as it had taken them to get here and before they knew it they drenched up to the front door. Both the icy rain and the cold wind that had picked up as they hurried home, had them shivering.

Castle made his way to the hall cabinet, trying not to get too much water on the floor and took out two large towels. He handed one to a quivering Kate, who had lingered on the doorstep, afraid to drip on the tiles too much. "I think it was lovely weather for a walk," he said sarcastically. "What about you?"

"Terrific," she replied just as sarcastically while she tried to wrench the water out of her hair. "Maybe next time it might be a good idea to check the forecast if we want to take a walk."

"Yeah, good idea," he grinned. "How about some hot chocolate?" He was still shivering and hoped that a warm beverage might reduce it.

"Sounds great, actually." She smiled at him through her eyelashes and he fought off a blush. He quickly turned around in case she would see. In his motion away from her, she whipped her hair back and he got a whiff of it. He had to suppress a groan, because her hair smelled amazing. It was a very distinct mix of the saltiness of the sea, the sweetness of the rain and something that was just very much _her_. He had to force his feet forward and tried not to turn around to take her in his arms, so he could smell that amazing scent again.

He heard her light footsteps follow him and then he heard them falter. "Actually, uh, do you mind if I take a shower first?" she asked hesitantly. Yeah, he did mind. If she took a shower, she would stop smelling like rain and sea salt.

"No, of course not," he said with a smile. Then he realized that he wouldn't mind washing off the rain either. "Actually, that's not a bad idea. We should take a shower." That got him a cheeky grin.

"Separately, Katherine Beckett, I never," he scolded and she pursed her lips in disbelief before disappearing up the stairs and into her bedroom.

(…)

"Have you showered yet?" she asked as she made her way downstairs. The rattling in the kitchen indicated that Castle was busy with their hot chocolates.

"Yep," he responded, sounding very chipper.

"You're fast," she observed.

"Yeah well, I have less hair to wash and dry," he said.

"Yeah, you've got a point there. My hair definitely takes up the most time to dry." _His_ hair, though, was standing up in every way possible, making him look very young and adorable. Apparently he wanted to make sure that he could give her hot chocolate when she came downstairs, so he didn't bother combing his hair. She smiled at the sweet man child in front of her as he offered her a mug that looked like Buzz Lightyear.

"I'm sorry about the mug, but I thought Buzz was a better option than Mister Potato Head." He held up his own mug which _was_ Mister Potato Head and she chuckled. Only Castle would own mugs with huge 3D pictures of Toy Story on them.

She pulled her shirt over her hands and cradled the mugs between her palms, trying to absorb the warmth of it. The shower had helped a bit, but she was still pretty cold. The wind and rain had gotten her so cold that she was having a hard time getting warm again.

"It's crazy out there," Castle said, seemingly reading her mind. They stared outside and into the storm for a minute, both lost in thought.

When she shivered again he seemed to snap out of it and said, "All right, come on. Let's go sit on the couch en watch a movie or something." She followed him towards the living room and settled on the couch. He handed her a blanket that had been hanging over the back of a chair before he went to the fireplace and switched it on. "This thing doesn't need wood," he explained. "It runs on electricity, but it is nice and warm, so… We have an actual fireplace on the back porch, because I like to attend the fire in the summer when I'm trying to write."

She smiled at him. "Nice," she said. "So which movie are we watching?"

"I… ah…" he clearly hadn't thought this through, because he opened a cabinet to show her which movies he had and most of them were Disney. "We haven't been here during the winter since Alexis was eleven, so we don't have much choice," he said begrudgingly. She saw Toy Story, Brother Bear, Pocahontas, Bambi, The Pianist and Alien. She wondered how The Pianist and Alien got stuck there, but she wasn't in the mood for either. Bambi was too sad for the stormy afternoon.

"Okay, Pocahontas, Toy Story or Brother Bear, you pick," she told him. He frowned as if he had to think really hard before picking up Brother Bear and slipping it into the DVD player. "Okay, Brother Bear it is." She settled down next to him on the couch and draped the blanket over their knees. Right when she bent over to retrieve her hot chocolate from the coffee table, Castle paused the film and jumped up.

"How about popcorn for lunch?" he suggested. Now that he mentioned it, she was kind of hungry.

"Sure," she nodded and watched him slip into the kitchen. She watched the frozen screen while she slowly sipped the hot chocolate and waited for his return. When he did, she smelled the popcorn before she heard him. He sat down next to her and put the bowl of popcorn between them. She absentmindedly grabbed a handful of the stuff as he pressed play again on the remote. They settled and watched the movie as the storm hauled outside.

They had eaten all the popcorn before they were even halfway through the film, but they didn't notice. The story of the little bear cub looking for his mother had sucked them in. They'd laughed when Tanana hit Kenai over the head with a stick because he wouldn't shut up. "I should try that with you sometime," Beckett remarked and Castle lightly bumped her shoulder with his fist. They laughed when the moose ran from Denahi, but Beckett had to really make an effort and hold in her tears when Koda told the other bears about how he lost his mother.

"God," Castle said, "I forgot how sad this film can be." Kate just nodded, afraid that he'd hear the tears in her voice.

Finally, when it was over and Kenai and Koda had found their place, Kate sighed. She noticed that Castle was looking at her, but she kept staring at the credits. The way Koda had lost his mother reminded her of losing her own mother. Unfortunately, she hadn't had a brother who looked after her. Instead, she'd had to look after her father.

She shook her head, willing the dark memories away. This was not the time for them, nor the place.

"You want more hot chocolate?" Castle asked quietly, as if he recognized where her silence came from.

She finally shot a glance his way and smiled up at him. "I'd like that," she said shyly. He got up and disappeared into the kitchen once more. This time she looked around and noticed a door that was ajar. The light caught some book spines and she wandered over to investigate. The door led to an office. Every wall was covered in books, in the middle was a huge empty desk. She assumed that he had his laptop in a bag somewhere.

The books behind the desk seemed more like expensive textbooks that you would use at a university. She realized that he had done more research than she had previously realized. The other walls seemed to be covered in novels, though he had a corner that seemed reserved for graphic novels. She reached out and let her fingers skim her spines as she studied the titles. He had a varied collection, from Poe to Shakespeare and from Stephen King to Jules Verne.

"Like my collection?" His voice startled her and she quickly turned around to find him leaning against the doorjamb with two mugs in his hands. He looked so domestic that her heart fluttered for a second. She wouldn't mind to see him like this more often.

"I do," she grinned and he returned her smile easily.

"Most of these are copies of the ones I have in the city. Summers can be long and when you leave home you might feel like reading Patterson, but then you get here and everything is serene and quiet and suddenly you feel more like reading Daniel Defoe."

"Really? The silence wants you to read Robinson Crusoe?"

"Well, sometimes it does feel like you're on a deserted island when you're alone on the beach," he defended. He suddenly seemed to remember the mugs in his hand and offered Buzz to her. "I also happened to have a good collection of old fashioned board games right there." He pointed to a corner that she'd missed. She strolled over and crouched down to look at the titles.

"Wow, I haven't played these in ages," she mumbled as she traced her fingers over the dusty boxes.

"You want to play one?" he asked.

"Sure," she said, it wasn't like they had anything better to do, so why not? "Should be fun."

"Okay, pick one and set it up. I'll get us some snacks," Castle said and he disappeared again.

Kate stared at the stack of board games and selected three. Settlers of Catan, Cluedo and Scrabble, though she was apprehensive about the last one. She _was_ playing against a writer. Unable to decide, she took all three back to the living room and set them on the kitchen counter.

"You pick," she said and he jumped. Apparently he hadn't heard her enter the kitchen. He quickly turned around and obviously tried to hide his embarrassment by examining the boxes with more interest than necessary.

"Settlers of Catan," he said after a second to her surprise. She had expected him to pick Scrabble, so he could win, but maybe he just wanted to play a friendly game. She nodded and took the boxes to the table where she set the game up.

(…)

He was winning. Really, he was. He was five points ahead of her with two cities and one bonus point. Then she asked him for an ore in exchange for wool and he desperately needed wool so he could build another settlement. But suddenly she had changed a settlement into a city and was building another road to the sea, where she built another settlement. This caused her to catch up to him until she was only two points behind.

He changed one of his settlements into a city in his next turn, so he was now three points ahead and he had thrown a five, which meant that he obtained a lumber card, but she got another grain card. She threw seven in her next turn, so she moved the robber to the pasture where he had built two settlements in the hope to get some wool.

Next turn he threw six, but the robber prevented him from obtaining his much needed wool. She already had enough wool for another settlement and exchanged four of those for ore with the bank so she could buy a development card that gave her two more victory points. She also built another settlement, which granted her with two more points, so they both had eight points now.

"Come on!" he whined, "That's not fair! I should have gotten some wool off that!"

"What's not fair about it, Castle? I moved the robber to your pasture, so he stole all your wool," she grinned. He could see that she was enjoying herself, even when she had been losing. She was relaxed and laid-back. She laughed a lot, had a constant smile playing around her lips. Her eyes shone and he loved seeing her like this. He couldn't get enough of watching her be so happy, so he played his part of the bad loser and enjoyed the sight.

"It's just not fair," he muttered and threw the dice. The threw eleven, which meant that she got even more ore and that she could upgrade two more of her settlements into cities and that meant that she had ten points. The first player to reach ten points wins. He groaned and hid his face in his hands.

"Come on, Castle. It's just a game," she chuckled as she threw the dice because she had to before she could build the two cities. "But I win!" she exclaimed happily when she set the little wooden block on the board.

"I still don't think it's fair," he grumbled and she laughed.

"Come on, big baby. I'm hungry," she said and tugged on his shirt to get him up.

"Right," he said as he noticed the time. "I'll make you a hamburger." He got up and led her to the kitchen. Without thinking he put his hand on the small of her back. He only realized what he was doing when the heat of her back started to register. He immediately tried to pull his hand back, but then he noticed her content smile. He was sure that she didn't even notice she was smiling, so he kept his hand on her back until they reached the kitchen, which was only a few steps, really, but it felt like so much more.

"Can I help?" she asked as he perused the refrigerator for ingredients.

"Of course you can," he said and he threw her a tomato and an onion. "You can slice those." She had expertly caught the ingredients and put them on a cutting board that was on the counter.

"Do you have a knife?" she asked and noticed that he already held one out to her. "Thanks."

They worked in silence, only commenting on what should happen with certain pieces of food. It caught him how domestic they were being. And how much he loved it.

When everything was ready and the burgers were done perfectly, he arranged their burgers. He knew exactly how she wanted hers, but tried to sneak some mustard in anyway, because he wanted her to try it. She loudly objected and he put the mustard away with a pout. Even though he knew that she knew that he was kidding and he had trouble hiding his smirk.

They settled down next to each other and were just about to start eating when a loud bang disturbed the peaceful scene and all the lights went out.

* * *

_Soooo, what'd you think? I'm the kind of writer who puts a game in a chapter that I only played twice as a very young kid and never really understood, so I had to look up the manual online :P. I'll try to put up another chapter next week. Love you._


	5. Chapter 5

_Hi guys! I made it! I wanted to post another chapter before I go on holiday (which is in an hour or so). So I quickly finished this chapter (there may be some mistakes, because I checked it very quickly) ._

_This is a little shorter than my usual chapters, but I wanted to give you guys something before I go away for four weeks. I'll obviously keep writing._

_I want to thank all of you for your alerts, favorites and reviews, I genuinely love you all. 3_

* * *

"Shit," Castle said and he looked up at the lights, he wondered why people did that when the lights go out. It's not like you can magically turn them back on.

"What? Did you forget to pay your rent?" Beckett joked.

"Must've," Castle replied. "There's no way that it's just a random blackout. It's not like there's a storm going on. Let me get some candles." He got up and rummaged in some drawers, digging up some candles and a lighter. He set them up and they had dinner by candlelight.

"Romantic," Kate remarked. "Did you plan this?"

"If I had, I wouldn't have fed you a hamburger," he said. "These are impossible to eat in the dark." He was trying to take a bite without having everything fall out on the other side of the bun.

"You're doing it wrong, you should hold it where everything is spilling out."

"I am," he grunted, but as he took another bite, a piece of tomato slipped out. Kate giggled at his pouting face. "Don't laugh at me!"

"Sorry," she said, trying to reign her laughter in. "You should try taking smaller bites." He grinned at her and took another huge bite of his burger.

"Like this?" he asked, wiping the ketchup from his chin.

"Yeah, sure. I give up, you're incorrigible," she sighed and he smirked at her.

"I never took you for someone to give up so easily, Detective," he said.

"I think two years is long enough," she replied.

"Two years already, huh?" he mused. "I guess time really flies when you're having fun."

"I wouldn't say that," she said. "You were being so annoying in the beginning that time actually seemed to _slow down_ those first few months. It was like a never ending torture."

"Ah, but then you warmed up to me," he smirked.

"Castle," she chastised. He wondered if she knew he was being annoying on purpose, just so he could get a rise out of her. She probably did. "You showed me a different side of you. The loving father, first. Then the caring son. Eventually, I got a glimpse my selfless partner." She looked down at her empty plate. He realized that she was being more open than she was used to. He decided to cherish this special moment.

"Kate," he said quietly and laid his hand on top of hers in a moment of courage, "I'm _so _happy that I showed you that side of me. It got me here, two years later. Well, actually, it got _you_ here. I would've probably been here this time of the year anyway." She smiled at him. It was a timid and shy one that he stored away in his memory to remember years from now.

She cleared her throat and took her hand back, but not before she had gently traced her thumb across his palm. "Dishes?" she asked.

"Yeah… No, wait. What about dessert?" It took him a second to come back to his senses.

"Do you have dessert?" she asked.

"Of course I have dessert!" he exclaimed. "We should actually start eating it before it melts." He took two big cartons of ice cream out of the freezer and presented them to her.

"Castle, it's not that hot anymore. I don't think it'll melt if you just keep them in the freezer."

"You don't want ice cream?" he asked, a little disappointed.

"No, of course I want ice cream, you idiot!" she laughed and grabbed the container closest to her. "You got Peanut Butter Cup!" She suddenly looked like a little girl, so pleased with her favourite ice cream flavour.

"Of course I did," he said, like it was the most natural thing in the world. She gladly took the spoon he offered her and stuck it into the ice cream.

"Do we eat right out of the carton or do you have bowls?" she asked.

"Bowls only cause more dishes," he whined. "And since the power is out, we'll have to do them by hand."

"Two extra bowls won't kill you," she teased. "But okay." She pulled out her spoon and took a huge bite, moaning when the sweet taste of peanut butter intruded her taste buds. He watched her with a grin. "Stop staring. 's Creepy," she said around the spoon that was still in her mouth.

"Sorry," he said with a smirk and concentrated on opening his own carton of ice cream.

"What flavour have you got?" she asked. "S'mores?"

"No, they were out of those," he said with a little pout. "So I've decided to try a new flavour, it's called Chocolate Therapy. Want to try?" she nodded and he held out the container for her to scoop some of the stuff on her spoon.

"This is actually not bad," she said just as Castle took his first bite. The intense taste of chocolate hit him by surprise. "But maybe a bit too much chocolate."

"Is that even possible?" Castle asked. He'd never thought he'd think that something could have _too much_ chocolate, but this was getting pretty close. "But you're right." He frowned.

"Want some of mine?" she asked pitifully and she held out her container to him.

"Thanks," he said and he made sure to take a generous amount of ice cream in one go.

"Hey!" she complained.

"You can always have some of mine, if you don't have enough," he teased and she punched his shoulder. Hard.

"Ouch!" he whined.

"I think we've had enough ice cream, don't you?" she said in an icy voice, but he knew she was just teasing him. Her eyes weren't glaring at him in the same way they did when she was actually mad at him.

"But we've just started," he pouted.

"I'm actually already halfway done with mine," she said. "It's not my fault that you're slow."

"Ouch," he said. "Now you're being mean, Beckett."

"Aww, you want me to kiss it better?" she asked and her eyes went wide when she realized what she'd just said. He ignored that and nodded enthusiastically.

"Yes, please."

She seemed to have recovered quickly from her little slip, because she retorted, "In your dreams, Writer Boy."

"Always," he said with a wink. He noted the bright red colour her cheeks had acquired. She quickly grabbed both cartons and placed them in the freezer. When she turned back around, her face had returned to its normal colour.

(…)

She was wondering why she had even agreed to come with him. He was being the extremely annoying, kind of charming and very adorable man-child she came to know over the years and she was having a hard time with keeping her mind in check. It kept going to all the moments they had shared, like the moment he had noticed her cherry shampoo, and it made her inside flutter.

"Kate," he said, breaking her inner musings.

"Hmm?"

"Do you want to wash or dry?" he asked, suddenly sounding more serious than he had a minute before.

"What? Oh – uh, dry, please," she stuttered and he handed her the towel with a funny look on his face that told her that he had noticed that she totally zoned out for a second. She didn't even notice him getting up or running the tap for dish water.

They stood side by side as they did the dishes in silence, both searching for words. She noticed his sideways glances at her, but decided not to return them until he was just flat out staring at her when she reached up to put a plate in the cupboard. Okay, her shirt had moved up to reveal a little stroke of skin. But she turned to him, pretending she had no idea why he was staring at her. His eyes caught hers, though, and suddenly she was lost. She'd totally forgotten what the sassy remark was that she had wanted to make.

The silence got interrupted by a sharp flash of lightning lightening up the entire room.

"Shit," she exclaimed.

"What?" he asked. "You're not afraid of a little lightning, are you?"

"No," she said, "it just caught me by surprise." But she couldn't even convince herself.

"I think you are," he teased.

"Shut up," she said and punched his arm before jumping again because of a shuddering round of thunder.

"Really?" he asked, less teasing this time as he had noticed that she really was scared.

"I just don't really like it," she confessed unwillingly.

"Alright," he said and she could hear some sympathy in his voice. "Let's finish this and hide under some blankets." He quickly washed the remaining cutlery and pots and helped her dry them afterwards. They were only interrupted by another round of thunder and lightning that made Kate clench her teeth together to hide how much it actually bothered her. When they were done he took her hand and guided her upstairs. He took a little detour to pick up a box that was on the table, but her mind didn't register what it was.

When they got upstairs, he led her to his room. She shivered, the temperature was significantly lower than in the rest of the house.

"Oh, crap," he said and quickly moved to close the window he had apparently forgotten. He set down he box he was still carrying and she noticed that he had brought Cluedo.

"You want to play another board game?" she asked.

"I thought it might be a good distraction to solve a murder," he said cheekily.

"Yeah, maybe you're right," she said right after she had jumped from another flash that was accompanied with thunder. "It's really close now." She felt a blanket fall over her shoulders and looked thankfully up at Castle.

"Okay, I'll put on a fire and then we can play that game," he said and he turned on the fireplace with a remote that was on the alcove. He spread out a blanket on the floor and she set up the game while he shuffled the cards and picked a murderer, weapon and a room.

They started playing and Beckett had guessed all three before he realized what had happened, so he wanted a rematch. This time the game took longer, but eventually Kate won again.

"C'mon, Castle, give it up. I'm a Homicide detective."

"I've helped you solve crimes before!" he sulked.

"Fine. You want to play again?" she asked and he nodded resolutely. She had some trouble with keeping her smile to herself while he was being so serious over a _game_.

(…)

This time he won, but he suspected her of letting him win out of pity. He didn't say anything about it, though. He thought it was sweet.

She was stretched out on the blanket and her speech got slurry. She was slowly falling asleep. He caught himself staring at her lithe form and slowly falling asleep himself. He roused before actually falling asleep and got up cumbersomely. He sighed as he watched his partner sleep. He didn't want to wake her up, so he carefully slipped his arms around her knees and shoulders and picked her up.

He slowly put her down on his bed and pulled the covers over her. As he turned around, she roused a bit, touched his hand and mumbled, "Babe, come back to bed."

* * *

_Thoughts? _


	6. Chapter 6

_Hello lovely people! I'm back for my holiday and university thing. I hope you're all having a good summer!_

_This afternoon I noticed how many peopled alerted this story, so I kicked my butt into gear and finished the chapter. Consider this my thanks for all your amazing favorites, alerts and reviews! Hope you like it! _

* * *

_Previously..._

_She was stretched out on the blanket and her speech got slurry. She was slowly falling asleep. He caught himself staring at her lithe form and slowly falling asleep himself. He roused before actually falling asleep and got up cumbersomely. He sighed as he watched his partner sleep. He didn't want to wake her up, so he carefully slipped his arms around her knees and shoulders and picked her up._

_He slowly put her down on his bed and pulled the covers over her. As he turned around, she roused a bit, touched his hand and mumbled, "Babe, come back to bed."_

* * *

Castle woke up with an unusual weight on his chest. He hardly ever slept on his back, but this morning he woke up whilst lying on his back. He blamed that for the heaviness on his chest, it was just old age. As he tried to move to his side, he noticed that the weight stopped him. He grudgingly opened his eyes and looked down. His chest was covered in chestnut brown hair.

Castle froze and looked back at the woman on top of him. He had been planning on sleeping in one of the guestrooms, but she had grabbed the back of his shirt and had tugged him towards her. There was nothing he could do but curl up next to her. Really, there wasn't. He hadn't had the heart, not when Kate asked him to lie down next to her with that sleepy voice. So he did.

And now he was waking up right next to her. Well, under her, technically. He watched the steady rise and fall off the hair that was draped over her back, wondering what he should do. She would probably kill him if she knew he'd slept right next to her. Or would she? She hadn't been drunk last night, just sleepy. Maybe she had asked him to stay with her with a presence of mind. Maybe she hadn't, in that case, he was a dead man.

The rhythm of her breaths slowly changed. He realized that she was waking up and he was out of time. Now there was nothing left he could do but pretend to be asleep. He quickly closed his eyes and tried to look asleep, as he felt her head rise. He was too slow with closing his eyes, though, and her eyes met his. She smiled. She actually smiled! It was a dopey smile, like she was still half asleep, which she probably was.

"Hey you," she whispered and suddenly she was so very close. It had happened before he realized what was going on. She had touched his lips with hers lightly, but retreated almost immediately. "Oh shit! I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed. He was still completely baffled by the kiss, so he didn't react immediately. "Castle, I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have done that!"

She started apologizing some more, but Castle had stopped listening and started to smile. "Kate," he tried to interrupt her, but she just rambled on about how sorry she was. "It's okay!" he tried again. She didn't listen.

"I didn't think!" she rambled.

"Beckett!" He grabbed her hands. She had started to move away from him, using her hands to push off the bed. "It's okay." Finally, she heard him.

"What?" she asked, baffled. She didn't seem to understand.

"It's okay," Castle smiled and moved forward until they were sharing breath. He cupped her cheek carefully with his hand. "Good morning." And he pressed his lips against hers. This time it took her a moment to react. When she did, she moved away a fraction and Castle's heart sunk in his chest.

"Good morning," she whispered and he raised his eyes to hers. She was smiling that dopey smile again and he grinned as she kissed him again.

(…)

She had kissed him! Her mind was still racing. It had been a perfect way to wake up, snuggled into his chest, surrounded by his smell. She had acted on instinct and without thinking. It turned out pretty great. Maybe she should've acted on instinct much earlier.

She was a bit ashamed of how she apologized at first, now she knew that she shouldn't have. But his first reaction was to stiffen, so she assumed that she had read him wrong and didn't want this at all. Of course she had been wrong, there was no way that she could've read him wrong. He was too obvious with his blatant staring. Not to mention that he sent his ex-wife, and apparently current girlfriend, home to come and get her.

"Electricity's back on," Castle interrupted her musings. He was standing in the bathroom doorway and had apparently flicked the light on out of habit.

"Hmm," she confirmed. "Care to investigate the damage we did last night?" He whirled around and looked at her with raised eyebrows.

"Do you know something I don't?" he asked and she laughed.

"I meant," she explained, "the mess we made during dinner."

"Oh, right," he grinned and held out his hand, which she took after less than a second of hesitation. This was still not normal to her. She had held back for two years. To suddenly let herself just take his hand, how innocent it might be, would take some time.

The kitchen was mostly clean, there were some ketchup stains where they'd eaten the burgers and they'd forgotten to put away the dishes. "I see I'm not the only one who had difficulty not spilling their burgers," Castle teased.

"No, but you were worse," she said.

"You could've told me you were having trouble, too. Then I wouldn't have felt so stupid."

"Sorry, Castle," she said with a smirk. "How can I make it up to you?"

"Well…" Castle said as he grabbed her hip to pull her towards him. "I've recently discovered something pretty amazing."

"Pretty amazing?" Kate inquired.

"Absolutely mindblowing," he corrected himself as he brushed his nose over hers.

"That's more like it," she said right before she closed the distance.

The kiss was soft and sweet and they were both smiling as they pulled back.

"I think we need to talk about this," she muttered softly.

"I think you're thinking too much," he muttered back. "I like this, let's keep doing _this._"

'I like this too," she mumbled, "but I still think we need to talk about it."

"Fine," he sighed, "but let's get this cleaned up first and eat something." He indicated towards the ketchup stains and plates. She nodded and removed herself from his arms. As he put away the dishes, she quickly swiped the counter with a cloth.

They had a quick and quiet breakfast. They both felt that they were about to have one of the most important conversations in their lives, but breakfast wasn't uneasy.

Afterwards, they went into the living room and sat down on the couch. She folded her leg under her and leaned back against the back cushion so she was facing him. He mirrored her and leaned on the arm he had put over the back cushion.

"So," she said.

"Oh, please, don't start like that!" he said and she laughed. "Bad conversations always start like that! I don't want this to be a bad conversation." He put on his puppy dog eyes and his little pout.

"I'm not exactly planning on making this a bad conversation," she said with a smile. He looked like a little boy, the way he was now leaning on his arm and the way his eyes were all happy and hopeful. She liked the idea that she had given him that look. She thought about palming his face with her hand, then she realized, why shouldn't she? So she lifted her arm and touched his cheek gently. His eyes had followed her movement and bored right back into hers when her hand made contact with his cheek.

"So not a bad conversation, huh?" he breathed. He seemed flustered.

"Nope, just a question," she said as she traced her thumb over his cheekbone.

"Shoot."

"What is this, exactly?" she asked.

"What is this?" he repeated.

"Yeah, what are we doing?" she rephrased.

"We're…" he hesitated, she could see that he was weighing his words, not wanting to say the wrong thing. "We're just hanging out."

"_That's _what this is to you? _Just hanging out?_" she said, trying on a teasing tone to hide the hurt that was constricting her. He had definitely chosen the wrong thing to say, even though it might seem the safe choice.

"No," he said seriously, "not really. This is…" She could see that she was struggling again, but his response had awakened some hope in her.

"Okay, listen, Castle," she said. "I'm not going to run, whatever you say, I promise. As long as it's not _just hanging out._"

"Okay, this is important to me. I don't want you to run, but…" He stopped talking and took a deep breath. "I think that you're my one and done." He looked down at his hands, she swiped her thumb over his cheekbone again.

"You've already had two," she teased.

"You know what I mean! I'm trying to express my feeling here!" he exclaimed.

"You know what?" she said softly. "I think you might be right." He looked up and she loved what she saw in his face.

"Yeah?"

"Yes," she said, "but –"

"Oh, here it is," he groaned, he'd regained some confidence and started to tease her again.

"But," she ignored him, "I think we should just see where it goes for now."

"Right, take it slow?" he asked.

"If you don't mind," she said with some hesitance in her voice.

"Nope, fine with me. As long I can do this," he said and he moved in to give her a chaste kiss. "So… Am I your boyfriend now?" he asked as soon as he moved back.

"I like the sound of that," she smiled.

"Yeah, me too." He grinned back at her. "Can I call you my girlfriend?"

"Yes, you can." She felt her smile widen, her heart tightened in her chest at his words. Oh, she was so gone. "Just not at the precinct! The boys will have a field day if they knew I came here with you and we're together now!" She could feel her face flush in embarrassment already.

"But we're telling them, right?" he asked.

"Yeah, of course. It's not like we can keep it from them forever," she said. Her eyes widened at the sound of her own words.

"Wow, you're on a roll today, Detective," Castle smirked. "Forever, huh?"

"Oh, shut up!" She hit his chest and got up from the couch. "I'm going to get a cup of coffee, you want one?"

"Yep," he said, his smirk still firmly in place when she turned towards the kitchen. When she was sure he couldn't see her face, she let herself smile, too.

(…)

Forever. The word brought very welcoming images to his head. Kate with a diamond ring on her finger. Kate in a wedding dress, moving towards him down the aisle. Kate with a little baby bump. Kate in a hospital bed with a little baby in her arms. Kate in the kitchen with their kid helping her cook. Kate and him as an elderly couple, walking up the front lawn of his Hamptons house, both smiling in reminiscence.

He shook his head to clear it from the images and focused on Kate coming into the living room with two cups of coffee.

"Here you go," she said as she handed him the Mr Potatohead mug.

"Thanks," he said.

There was a second of silence, neither of them knew what to do or say.

"This is not awkward at all," she said sarcastically.

"Yeah, let's not start making it awkward now." He got up held out his hand, she took it and he hauled her off of the couch, causing her to irrupt into a fit of giggles. "Hmm, never took you for the giggling type," he said. She looked up at him, having quieted down immediately. He just smiled down at her, "I like it, this free side of you."

She grinned, moved her hands up his chest until she was holding his broad shoulders to steady herself as she stood on her tiptoes. She reached up to brush her mouth against his ear, "You haven't seen nothing yet."

He gulped. "Double negative, you hang out with too many thugs," he tried to recover. She laughed at his poor attempt.

"Always the writer, even when you're flustered," she said.

"Wouldn't want to disappoint," he grinned. It took him a moment before he had processed what the other thing was she had said. "Hey! I do not get flustered."

"Right, of course not." She gave him a peck on the cheek. "I'm sorry for implying that you did."

"You can insult me more often if that's how you apologize." He gave her a crooked grin.

"Get used to it," she said.

"You've insulted me since our first case together, detective. I don't expect you to stop now."

"Good. Sometimes you need it to keep you from going back to that annoying guy I met two years ago."

"Yeah, I think we covered that last night," he muttered. "Let's just watch a movie or something."

"At least it's not awkward anymore, right?" she teased.

"Yeah, let's stop making it awkward on my account," he sulked on his way to the cabinet where he had all his movies. "Okay, the only normal one I have is _Take the Money and Run_."

"Woody Allen is always a good choice," she said as she settled back on the couch. He popped in the disc and as he sat down next to her, she leaned against him immediately.

(…)

He was very comfortable and warm and she was having trouble staying awake. Her eyes kept drooping to the soft sounds of the movie, the calming way he was breathing and just the utter sense of contentment that surrounded her. She snuggled a bit closer to his side and inhaled his scent. She felt him chuckle. He probably found her cute when she was sleepy, but she couldn't care less what he thought of her right now. If they were to do this more often, he should get used to her being like this.

After she almost fell asleep for the fifth time, he sat up a little more, eliciting a groan out of her. "Whataya doing?" she slurred.

"I'm going to get some more snacks, before you really fall asleep on me and I won't be able to eat for the next two hours," he replied as he walked towards the kitchen. She was just admiring his fine ass when her phone buzzed. Lanie's picture lit up the screen.

"Hey, Lane," she said.

"Hi, girl! I haven't heard from you in a couple of days! How are you?" her friend asked.

"I'm good," Kate said.

"Yeah? You sound like crap."

"I do? Uh – Yeah, I almost fell asleep just now," Kate quickly explained.

"Oh yeah? Did that sleeping involve a certain writer?" Lanie pried.

"No, Lanie. It did not," Kate tried to sound exasperated, but her best friend wasn't far off.

"Fine," Lanie gave up. "Listen, I called to thank you for the tickets to that Q3 benefit. Javi and I had a beautiful night."

"Yeah, of course!" Kate said. "How was it?"

"Amazing! The food there is so perfect!"

"Yeah, and Javi?" Kate was the one to pry this time.

"The company wasn't bad either," her friend admitted.

"Not bad, huh?"

"Okay, he was a perfect gentleman. Held the door for me, pulled out my chair, the whole shebang."

"Good, because if he was anything less than a gentleman, I'll kick his Spanish butt," Kate threatened.

"Woah, down girl! You wouldn't want to hurt that fine butt," Lanie said. "But thank you for being the protective big sister."

There was some rumbling in the kitchen and after a second Castle's voice broke through the room. "Kate? Do you want popcorn or crackerjacks?" he yelled.

"Popcorn," she yelled back without thinking.

"Who was that?" Lanie insisted.

"What?" Kate asked a bit flustered.

"Was that Castle? You're with him aren't you?" She could hear the approving grin in Lanie's voice.

"No, no, that was just my dad," she said quickly. This thing with Castle was way too new for anyone to know yet.

"What was your dad?" Castle asked, he had just come. His arms were filled with a huge bucket of popcorn.

"That was _not_ your dad! Katherine Houghton Beckett! What are you hiding!" Lanie insisted. She must've heard Castle's question. Kate gave Castle a deer in the headlight look and he chuckled.

"Who is it?" he whispered.

"Lanie," she mouthed back and she could see him deflate.

"Just tell her. She already knows I was planning something anyway," he said.

"What? How?"

"I talked to her the night you called me," he explained.

"Okay, just put me on speakerphone so I can actually hear what you guys are saying," Lanie's voice sounded through the receiver of the momentarily forgotten phone. She sounded amused and annoyed at the same time.

"Okay fine, Lanie. I'm with Castle," Kate said as soon as she'd put her friend on speakerphone.

"Oh great, so your big plan worked, right Writerboy?" Lanie said.

"What big plan?" Kate asked.

"I didn't have a plan. Not really," Castle said. "I just asked Lanie about your plans for the summer and she assumed I had some kind of big plan, apparently."

"Showing up at my door with cold coffee," Kate grinned. "Nice plan."

"Thanks." Castle gave her a crooked grin that deserved him an eyeroll.

"Okay, I'll leave you two lovebirds be. Kate, I expect a phone call from you as soon as possible! Have fun you two!" And then she hung up. Castle and Beckett stared at each other in surprise.

"Do you think she's going to tell the entire precinct we're together now?" Castle asked.

* * *

_Thoughts?_


	7. Chapter 7

_Hi! Here's chapter seven. This story now officially has the most chapters I've ever written for a story and there are many more to come. Thank you all for being such amazing people._

_To Wordworker: No English is not my first language, so you may find some mistakes :)_

* * *

"Do you think she's going to tell the entire precinct we're together now?" Castle asked.

"No, she won't," Kate said with confidence. She knew that her friend realized that this was big and that they needed the time to get used to it.

"How can you be so sure? Lanie is very good at spreading gossip," Castle said.

"I know because we've been best friends for over ten years and she wouldn't do that to me," Kate insisted. She didn't understand why he didn't trust Lanie to keep this to herself.

"You could just call her back and ask if she couldn't tell anyone," he said.

"Castle! You're not listening to me! She won't tell anyone! What would the big issue be if she would slip up, though? Why are you so against this?" She was suddenly insecure. Maybe he was ashamed of her.

"We agreed to keep it to ourselves remember. Lanie telling Javi and Kevin about this won't do that!"

"But she won't tell them! And even if she did, would it be a big problem for you?"

"Yes! Because if Javi and Kevin know, they'll tell other people and then when we come back, the entire precinct knows!"

"You don't want people to know about this. Why? Are you ashamed of me?"

"What?" He looked confused. "No! Of course not! Where do you get that idea?"

"Well, apparently you don't want anyone to know about us, so…" She was suddenly terrified of his reaction. While she knew that he would never be ashamed of her, she couldn't shake the feeling .

"Wait," he interrupted her. "I thought we agreed not to tell anyone yet. So I assumed that we didn't want the entire precinct to know we're together when we get back to work in two weeks."

It didn't escape her attention that he still spoke of them as a unit. As partners.

"Besides, I don't think it's allowed for partners to be involved, is it?"

"Not really," she admitted. Okay, so he had a point. "But Lanie really isn't going to tell anyone, so we have nothing to worry about."

"Could you still call her, though?" he asked. He held up his hand when he saw that she was going to protest again. "I trust you when you say that she would never spill on us if she knew that we wouldn't want to, but are you sure that she knows that we want to keep it a secret for now?"

She was taken aback by his choice of words. _I trust you when you say…_ She had to remind herself that they were in a fight – was it a fight? – and that she couldn't just start grinning like a fool at his choice of words.

"Okay, fine. I'll call her back," Kate sighed and picked up her phone again. She tapped the speed dial that was Lanie and her friend answered after two rings.

"There's no way that you're already calling me back. Girl, you have more important things to do," Lanie said.

"Yes, I agree with you, but Castle wants me to tell you that we want to keep this thing between us for a little while. So we'd rather have that you wouldn't tell anyone about this little getaway," Kate said, her voice neutral. While she spoke she was glaring at Castle, but it couldn't have been very convincing, because he returned her glare with a little smile.

"Am I on speakerphone again?" Lanie asked.

"Yes, you are."

"Then Richard Castle, you should have listened to my girl when she said that I wouldn't tell anyone without permission. And since I didn't get the 'okay, go' from you guys, my lips are sealed," Lanie said. Kate had the impression that she added just a bit more sass to her voice than she usually would have, just to spook Castle.

"Okay, Lanie, I understand. Thank you," he said. It surprised her that he didn't say anything to make himself look better towards Lanie.

"Good, now have fun you two," Lanie said, she sounded happy for them.

Kate hung up and gave him a look. "See? She knew we weren't ready for everyone to know."

"Yeah, yeah, just say I told you so," Castle said and he pretended to be hurt, but she could see that all was forgiven.

"Nah, that'd be mean," she said and she leaned back against his chest again. "So… _we're _going back into work in two weeks, huh?"

"Yep. And _we'd _rather have that Lanie kept it quiet, huh?"

"Yep," she copied him. "And you trusted me." She grinned.

"I think that something beautiful could grow out of this first fight," he mused.

"Hmm, is it a good sign to have our first fight on our first day?" she asked.

"Well, if that's the worst our fights get, I don't really mind," he said.

"Yeah, it wasn't even a real fight, was it?"

"Not really, more of a… disagreement," he said.

"Hmm," she said.

"You're not falling asleep on me again, are you? Because we can always play Chutes and Ladders or something," he chuckled.

"Not falling asleep, just getting comfortable. Besides, you already want to play Chutes and Ladders? This storm may take weeks! I don't want us to move through the board games too quickly in case we have nothing to do when we're holed up in here for two weeks."

"I think I have a better idea to spend our time than playing board games if we're holed up in here for two weeks," Castle said suggestively.

"Let's just save Chutes and Ladders for later, okay? We still have to finish that movie."

"You've hardly seen any of it, because you we're half asleep!" he whined.

"I was listening to it, it was very therapeutic," she murmured.

"Fine, it's only twenty minutes until it's done anyway," he said and he pressed play on the remote control to continue the movie. She relaxed further into him as he started stroking up and down her arm.

(…)

After the movie, he made them both a sandwich and they spent the rest of the day playing Scrabble. Kate beat him four times and let him win the fifth time out of spite. He sulked a bit during dinner, so she tried to cheer him up.

"Come on, Castle! You get to pick the next game!" she said.

"Strip poker?" he asked hopefully.

"Not yet," she said and her reply made him perk right up. The prospect of playing strip poker with her in the near future was enough to make him forget about losing with Scrabble.

"Fine, maybe next time," he said and he winked at her. "Gina texted me that she still wants my next chapter by Friday, so I'd better start writing anyway."

"Okay, I'll clean this up and curl up on the couch with a book or something," she said. To his surprise she didn't seem hurt at all that he needed to spend some time on Naked Heat. It made him fall for her just a bit more that she took all of this in stride.

"Are you sure?" he asked even though he knew what her answer was going to be.

"Yeah, of course. You need to finish your book, so I can entertain myself for a while," she said.

"Thank you," he said with a warm smile and a soft kiss that seemed to catch her by surprise. He didn't even try to hide the skip in his step as he made his way to his office. That he could now just kiss her when he wanted was still so new that his heart beat a little erratically every time he did it. And he hoped that that feeling never went away.

The words started flowing from his fingers as soon as he had opened the document that contained his manuscript. He was lost in the world of Nikki Heat until he had reached an end in a lead that Nikki and Rook were following up on. Only then he looked up from his screen. He was met by an alluring sight. Kate had curled up on the couch in his office with a book, he couldn't see the cover. The book lay forgotten in her lap, her eyes were closed and her head was leaning against the back cushion. It didn't look very comfortable, so he decided to wake her up.

"Hey sleepy," he murmured as he caressed her cheek with his thumb. She startled awake and looked at him with wide eyes.

"I didn't fall asleep again, did I?" she asked.

"You did," he chuckled. "Is this something we need to talk about?"

"What do you mean?" she said confused.

"Well, you fell asleep last night, this morning and just now. Are you okay? You're not sick, are you?" He hadn't thought about it before he'd asked her about it, but now he was starting to get concerned.

"No, Castle. I'm not sick, just a little tired. I guess my body is just catching up on some of the sleep I missed these couple of weeks," she explained.

"What Ryan and Espo didn't send you home?"

"They did, but I didn't listen. And _they_ don't drag me home, unlike some people I know," she said with an accusatory look.

"You were working thirty hours straight! You needed sleep and dragging you home was the only way to get you to sleep," he defended himself.

"I know, Castle. Thanks for that, by the way. I guess I don't look after myself very well."

"You're only figuring that out now?" he said with a smirk.

"Shut up," she said and she sighed, touched her forehead with her hand.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked again.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said, but it didn't sound convincing.

"Kate," he chastised.

"Just tired," she murmured.

"Okay, then let's go to bed," he said and slowly helped her up. She leaned heavily on him as they stumbled up the stairs. He was getting more and more concerned with her wellbeing, but there was nothing he could do as long as she didn't tell him what was wrong.

They made it to the bed and he slowly sat her down. "Wait here," he whispered and he disappeared back out the door, only to return a few minutes later with her suitcase in one hand and her toiletries in the other.

"I hope you don't mind staying here tonight," he said with a shy smile. "Because my bed is more comfortable than the one in the guestroom and if you're going to sleep for a good long while, you better be comfortable." He didn't think she'd protest much, given that they'd slept in the same bed the night before too, but she could be stubborn sometimes. He shouldn't have worried because all she did was smile gratefully at him.

He helped her up and supported her on her way to the bathroom. He handed her her toiletries and left her alone for a minute, closing the door quietly behind him. While he waited, he changed into T-shirt and took off his pants. He hesitated about putting on some shorts for her benefit, but he didn't think she'd mind.

After a while of waiting for her to exit the bathroom, he knocked on the door. "Kate?" he asked quietly. When he didn't get an answer, he carefully opened the door. What he found made him smile affectionately at his new girlfriend. She stood in front of the mirror and was looking at herself with a slight frown. "Kate?" he said again, making her jump.

"Castle!" she exclaimed. "What're you doing here?"

"You didn't answer me, so I came to check on you. What are you doing?" he asked.

She suddenly blushed. "I – Nothing," she said and after shooting herself a disapproving look in the mirror, she tried to slid past him towards the bedroom. He was too fast for her, though, and grabbed her by her arms, pulled her into him.

"Woah, woah, that look wasn't nothing," Castle said a little confused. "Talk to me."

"It's nothing, Castle," she said, avoiding his gaze and obviously trying to hide her eyes.

"Kate," he urged with a sigh and she finally looked up at him. Her eyes were bloodshot and the circles were more prominent. She'd been hiding them well with her make-up and since she'd fallen asleep last night with her make-up on, this was the first time he saw her without it.

"I just look like crap, okay. This was probably not how you imagined our first night as couple would go," she murmured.

"Okay, first, you do not look like crap," he said soothingly, "and second, no it's not, but all that matters to me now is that you get some rest." He cupped her cheek and traced the circle under her eye with his thumb. He felt her lean into his touch as her eyes slipped shut. "Go to bed, I'll be there in a minute." With a soft kiss against her hair, he sent her back to bed.

* * *

_Thoughts?_


End file.
